On April 18th, President Joe Biden signed an executive order that includes more than 50 directives to increase access to child care and improve the work life of care providers. During the announcement, President Biden stated that the executive order won’t require new spending, which means that it will need to be funded from existing commitments.
The executive order included the following directives designed to improve job quality for early educators.
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The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will take steps to increase the pay and benefits for Head Start teachers and staff.
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HHS will also implement policies so that more child care providers benefiting from CCDBG receive higher reimbursements for the children they serve.
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The Department of Education (ED) will encourage grantees of the Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) program—which supports thousands of student-parents across the country pay for care while going to school—to improve the quality of the services they provide, including higher wages for child care workers.
President Biden has also called for more money for the care economy in his 2024 budget.
You can find more details about the childcare executive order on this White House fact sheet.
